In our world there are people who engage only in external actions. No illumination from above reaches them, and they do not perform any inner actions. So, what is the difference between those who engage in inner actions and those who engage in external actions? The difference is very simple; it is their correspondence to Abraham.

Question: But where can you find a point of connection between our external and inner actions so that there is some logic to it?

Answer: If you perform actions with your body without any connection to spiritual corrections, like a good Jew who does what he was taught, then you establish correspondence on your own level: Domem deKedusha (the still level of holiness). You perform corrections, but since it is the still level of Kedusha, it does not give you the opportunity to grow. Nevertheless, they are corrections.

The light came from above, clothed in matter, and within this matter the spiritual replicated. Thus, in this world there are still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels, and on the speaking level there are people who are descendants of Abraham or Gerim (converts), whom we will discuss later.

Those who are on the still level possess sparks of Abraham that they do not develop; for example, the illumination from above that awakens one to spirituality has not yet come to them, and so, they perform correction on the still level of holiness.

It is still a correction; you cannot deny it. But neither can you live by it, that is, you cannot add anything to it, because the still level is characterized by the absence of spiritual life.

If you desire something more, then you must begin to add your own effort: take deficiencies as though from outside yourself, add your own contribution through the single point of free choice available to you, and thereby evoke an additional illumination from above, or absorb more of the illumination that comes to you. Then you begin to carry out the spiritual commandments, to work for the Creator.

You must distinguish between these two aspects, because Kabbalah is, in essence, work for the Creator. Otherwise, you observe the commandments simply as a person who was taught to do so. One does not contradict the other; both approaches are necessary.

However, to one who exists on the still level of holiness, it appears that you are negating that level, because for him only the first aspect matters; if something else is deemed important, then the first loses its significance.

We observe that those who truly begin to study the inner part begin to neglect the external part—to the point that a person who meticulously observed all the commandments, upon beginning the study of Kabbalah, suddenly forgets that he has anything at all that he must do. He still does certain things out of habit, but his thoughts are floating in the clouds, above. We see how much the material action becomes weakened—in work, in the family, in everything. A person who is completely attached to spirituality greatly neglects the material.

Those who say that one who studies Kabbalah does not observe the commandments in practice with the meticulousness required in this world, are seemingly right. We ourselves see that this is so; let us not hide what, in the end, actually happens.

It is necessary to clarify the reasons for this phenomenon: either, God forbid, we are studying something incorrect; or we are mistaken and are not studying as we should; or this is natural and perhaps it will later return in another form, on another degree, in another existence—together, both in the spiritual and in the material.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/26, Rabash, “What Does It Mean that the Torah Was Given Out of the Darkness in the Work?”

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Question: During an ascent, the inner light clothes in a person. During a descent, there is no inner light. Is surrounding light present in the external Kli instead?

Answer: The question is, in which Kli does the light clothe itself? If we are speaking about the preparation period, we have a person who has a desire to receive for their own sake, and who must gradually analyze, attain, and distinguish various layers, nuances, and shades within it. Among all their desires, is there one in which the light can clothe?

Question: I have a desire to receive that has no screen, and from above, through the Machsom, the surrounding light shines upon me. When I acquire a screen, this light will clothe within me, and then should all my work be on the screen, so that the reflected light will clothe in me?

Answer: That is not the case. Naturally, I think about wanting  to attain Him, and I yearn for Him, but the correction does not take place according to this. Of course, I aspire to the light so that it will fill me; however, the correction takes place when this light is absent, when it departs. Do I fill myself, in its place, with the light of faith?

The light of faith shines not simply from the surrounding light, but from the fact that my attitude toward the Creator is related not to how much I receive from Him, but to what my attitude toward Him is, to the measure in which I aspire to Him.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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“And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, ‘What are you seeking?’ And he said, ‘I seek my brothers. Tell me, I pray you, where they are feeding the flock?’

A man “wandering in the field” refers to a place from which the crop of the field to sustain the world should spring (Rabash, “Love of Friends – 1“).

The Torah is the teaching, the method, that explains the entire process we must go through, from here until the end of correction. So where do we begin building the spiritual vessel and entering the spiritual world?

Here it speaks about Joseph, who gathers (Osef) all the previous qualities of his brothers, and through this discovers that he is in Egypt, that is, within the evil inclination.

I feel that I am opposite to the spiritual world and unworthy of it. Moreover, I have no desire whatsoever to enter it, this is what my inner qualities “tell” me. This realization must come. But on the other hand, we already know that if we break down the barriers between us and unite, then within our unity we will immediately begin to feel the spiritual world.

Thus, the Torah explains to us the process of developing our common vessel, which at this stage is called Joseph. He is “wandering in the field,” not knowing how to reach spirituality. Before him lies an empty expanse, and he does not know which way to go.

And the works of the field are plowing, sowing, and reaping. It is said about that: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy,” and this is called “a field which the Lord has blessed.”

A person must be ready for the plowing, the sowing, and the reaping, that is, for working with his desire. For desire (Ratzon) is the land (Eretz), or that very field, which must be plowed and sown with the seeds of bestowal, Bina, so that Bina may enter Malchut. There it begins to grow by means of Malchut’s desire, producing sprouts, the harvest that we will later reap.

Thus, the person called Israel, one who is directed straight to the Creator, enters Egypt and discovers a great egoistic desire within himself. It is precisely then, when he sees that this desire rules over him, that he exerts himself toward unity and, through prayer and a cry for help, escapes from Pharaoh.

Why is this descent into egoism necessary? It is o that we may come out of it. Just as we place seeds into the earth so that, through the earth, they may sprout and blossom. It is thanks to the earth, meaning the egoistic desire, that the tiny seed of bestowal, the altruistic desire, begins to grow. It emerges precisely from the earth.

When the spark of bestowal, the point in the heart, awakens within us, it brings us to the wisdom of Kabbalah. We begin to study, we join a group, and suddenly discover how bad everything is, how many obstacles arise along the way. The evil grows stronger and stronger until we are completely submerged in it. Then, with our last ounce of strength, we struggle to overcome it and escape. And we flee, taking with us the great desire to receive that we acquired in Egypt.

This is how the seed of bestowal sprouts: We rise above the earth, taking the corrupted desires with us, and then begin to correct them.

This process is accompanied by joy and sorrow, by the hardening of the heart, failures, and difficulties. Yet it is precisely through despair that we draw near to the exodus. And that exodus is found in unity. No one comes out alone, only together.
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From the International Kabbalah Congress 2/24/12, “Arava,” Lesson 3

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There is a contradiction between the desire to receive and the desire to bestow, and therefore, we are always in a state of uncertainty and lack of understanding. Baal HaSulam writes that every spiritual state contains two opposites within it; that is, contradiction is inherent in its very nature.

He explains what the real problem within us actually is. As long as we exist simply in the still, vegetative, or animate desire to receive, which is our nature, there is no problem, and everything is in order.

There are the four phases of the expansion of the direct light: the root phase (Shoresh), the first phase (Aleph), the second phase (Bet), and the third phase (Gimel). But as soon as the fourth phase (Behina Dalet) begins, problems immediately arise, and the restriction (Tzimtzum) takes place.

Before the fourth phase, there is no restriction because everything is governed from above. I have no desires of my own. The Creator gives me thoughts, impulses, desires, fears, anxieties, and hormones. And I, like a puppet, merely carry out everything that He gives me. There are no problems or contradictions here. I am the desire to receive, the Creator governs me from above, and that is all.

But when the point in the heart awakens within the desire to receive, it is already a messenger from that world, from beyond the Machsom, from the desire to bestow. Then a rupture occurs within a person, and a problem arises: two opposite natures coexist within him—the spiritual nature and the corporeal nature. The inner tension within a person grows, and he begins to feel like they are exploding or losing their mind. They cannot coexist together. This is why we are so unhappy.

One must understand that there is no choice. At a certain point, the Creator implanted both the desire to receive and the desire to bestow within us, as well as within all of humanity. We will remain in this inner division until we “join” the two together—that is, until the desire to receive acquires the intention to bestow as its second, spiritual nature.

We are obligated to reach spirituality. We are simply not asked whether we want to. We will remain in this inner fracture until we transform our desire to receive into a desire to bestow. Then these two forms of nature—the spiritual and the corporeal—will once again become as one. Only then will we attain a sensation of peace.

Until the end of correction (Gmar Tikkun) however, this contradiction will continue to exist within us.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/29/26, Rabash, “One’s Greatness Depends on the Measure of One’s Faith in the Future”

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